Some of the thorniest issues relating to the human family have been discussed by the small working groups of the Synod over the past two weeks – now the time has come to find a consensus with which to move forward.

Vatican Radio is reporting on the conclusion of the work of the small working groups who will now get to work on drafting a final document that will be acceptable to everyone – a feat that will take more than just a little divine intervention!

At the press briefing for Day 14, Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Germany, the prelate who is leading the charge toward allowing the civilly divorced and remarried to receive Communion, said his group had spent much time deliberating the issue and finding a way forward. They issued proposals that he claimed were unanimously agreed upon by the members of his group, which included Cardinal Gerhard Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He admitted that it was hard work but that they had to discuss difficult issues and find a common way which was “acceptable to everyone.”

However, as the day wore on, none of the 13 other working groups approved these proposals.

The working groups also failed to generate support for a proposal that individual bishops’ conferences should be free to set their own policies regarding the pastoral care of Catholics who are divorced and remarried. At least one of the groups said they believed this would risk harming the unity of the Church and understanding of the sacraments.

Philippa Hitchens of Vatican Radio said that after listening to reports from the 13 working groups, it became clear that the discussions highlighted a divide between “those who are wary of change and those who feel the Church must find new ways of responding to the new challenges facing families today.”

For instance, one group warned that “The Church should be prudent, but not so prudent it ignores those in need” while another expressed a concern that discussion of so-called ‘irregular’ relationships could be misconstrued by the faithful as recognition or even approval of them.

She found the German and French groups to be the most united in their call to recognize that realistic discussion of such irregular situations in no way detracts from the witness of faithful Catholics who do live up to Church teaching and who deserve the unconditional support of their pastors.

One of the English speaking groups spoke of the challenge to the imagination of Church leaders to find a new language of dialogue to discern shared values among people of different backgrounds and beliefs – which will be no small feat in the “PC-controlled” West.

The Italians were the most adamant about listening to individual cases and recognizing the complexity of each marital breakdown.

The question at this point in the Synod process is where is all this headed and how is it possible to incorporate such disparate views into a document that will satisfy all participants?

“Over two years after the Pope first announced the start of the Synod process, bishops said more research and input is needed from experts, including deeper anthropological study into questions of gender and same-sex relationships,” Hitchens reports.

“In the end, the Church leaders agreed on just one thing: that unlike an ecumenical council, the Synod is an advisory and not a decision making body, so all this wealth of honest and at times heated discussion will be handed back to the Holy Father, for him to draw out the final conclusions.”

The final document will be presented and voted upon by Synod Fathers on Saturday.

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®  http://www.womenofgrace.com